Padilla urges PCO to counter fake news, boost Phl narratives on WPS

The Presidential Communications Office should further boost the country's narratives involving the West Philippine Sea, particularly countering misleading propaganda and fake news by the opposing country, Senator Robinhood Padilla said Tuesday.

Padilla filed Senate Resolution 864 urging the Presidential Communications Office to "communicate to the public in an understandable way" the relevant legal documents, international treaties, and bilateral and multilateral agreements on the government's actions in the WPS.

"As the nation's security landscape continues to evolve, it is incumbent upon the PCO to provide clear, up-to-date, and accurate information on matters of public concern relating to the security challenges confronting our country," Padilla, who chairs the Senate Committee on Public Information and Mass Media, wrote in his resolution.

Padilla lamented the "seriousness and risk of such issues" affecting the lives of Filipinos, especially those who are residing in the WPS.

He said "spreading propaganda, misinformation, and fake news with the advent of social media" can greatly affect the country's "pursuit of good governance and ultimately undermine democracy."

Padilla cited the Philippines' sovereign rights over the WPS, which should be the government's main focus amid the continuing aggression of China in the country's nine occupied features in the WPS.

"The territorial claim in the West Philippine Sea issue remains a primary national interest in the Philippines, since the government's filing of an arbitration case against China under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in January 2013, which was ruled in favor of the Philippines in 2016," he said.

He recalled that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. previously committed that his administration "will continue to uphold its sovereign rights and preserve territorial integrity in defense of rules-based international order."

Padilla also mentioned the increasing assertiveness of China over the country's territorial claims in the WPS.

SR 146 mandates the PCO to diligently "communicate to the public various treaties and documents that served as the basis of the Philippines' policies and actions surrounding the territorial dispute in the WPS," including the UNCLOS, the Hague-based 2016 Arbitral Ruling, the United States-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty, and the Reciprocal Access Agreement.

Padilla underscored that "it is understood that matters that may have repercussions or may compromise the nation's defense and security are naturally excluded from any public information and awareness campaign."